Multiple valve body



March 11, 1952 A. G. JOHNSON 2,588,983

MULTIPLE VALVE BODY Filed April 11, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l FgI l SERVICE VALVE RELIEF VALVE ESSURE. GAUGE VAPOR RETURN VALVE Fl LL GAUGE SERVI CE VALVE 0 12 INVEN TOR.

AN DREW GJOH NSONL ATTORZVE Y5- March 11, 1952 A. G. JOHNSON 2,588,933

MULTIPLE VALVE BODY Filed April 11, 1950 2 sHEETS- HE T 2 PRESSURE RELIEF PORT 1;;-

PRESSURE 25 21a VAPOR RETURN PORT I 15\ J] FILL GAUGE 11 PORT VAPOR 23 16 Y FILL. RETURN B I I PORT PORT ifiggqgfi 260 150 6 10 a I 13 a I I l6 24 F 5 '2!- 1g SERVICE 17 q PORT .W l4 L V 1 1 V SERVICE B PORT L 10 f 12 Fir- 13 M k 5- FILL PORT g 22 f h 6' FILL GAUE PORT INVENTOR. ANDREW G. JOH NSQN.

AT OHA/E Y5 Patented Mar. 11, 1952 MULTIPLE VALVE BODY Andrew G. Johnson, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The Weatherhead Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 11, 1950, Serial No. 155,174

1 Claim.

This invention relates to valves and, more particularly, to multiple valve head bodies of the type designed for dispensing gases liquefied under pressure such as liquefied petroleum gases or the like.

Dispensing systems of the type referred to generally include a tank for storing gases liquefied under pressure, and avalve head assembly mounting a plurality of valves having various functions. For example, a typical installation will include a fill valve which admits liquid to a tank by means of a tube extending into the vessel, a vapor return valve to prevent vapor lock in the tank during filling, a relief valve, a manually-controlled dispensing or service valve, and in some instances a fill gauge, and perhaps a pressure gauge.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a valve body for the service mentioned which is extremely compact, light in weight, economical to produce, and is readily machined. According to the invention, I provide such a body in the form of a malleable casting having a lower portion for connection to the tank and an upper portion for mounting the valve, the latter portion having side walls and a three-plane top wall having a mid-section and downwardly slanting side sections. The vapor chamber is formed in the upper body portion and the valve ports formed in one or more side walls leading to the vapor chamber. A liquid chamber is provided ,without increasing the dimension of the body by extending from the top and one side wall a recurved wall which projects into the vapor chamber and isolates one of the top ports therefrom, thereby forming a liquid chamber, the isolated port being a fill valve port.

Means are provided for readily mounting a fill tube by having the bottom wall of the liquid chamber overlie the main bore in the attaching nipple with said wall being apertured and threaded to receive a fill tube. A fill gauge tube and valve may be incorporated by merely thickening one zone of the liquid chamber wall and forming the necessary ports and tube-receiving bores in said zone. A pressure gauge and one valve port may be formed in the other side wall of the body for communication with the vapor chamber.

The slanting top wall portions permit mounting of the associated valve members at an angle which combines accessibility with compactness and a similar arrangement may be provided for the angular mounting of a pressure gauge so that the entire assembly is comparatively small in a radial dimension, and yet all valves are accessible from above and the gauge may be read from above as well as from one side.

The manner in which the aforesaid objects and advantages are attained will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the novel valve body with the valve assemblage mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the assemblage;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the valve body itself;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on '5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on 66 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the valve body B has a lower section II] for attachment to a tank, and an upper body portion II for mounting the various valves and other devices. As will be seen presently, the body portion has a vapor chamber formed therein which communicates with the relief valve and vapor return valve mounted in the top wall of the body, a service valve mounted in one side wall thereof, a pressure gauge mounted angularly in the same side wall, and the fill gauge mounted radially in the opposite side wall. As also will be seen presently, a liquid chamber is formed in the valve body which is in communication with a fill valve mounted angularly in the top wall in the valve body.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 6, the lower or attaching portion In is in the form of a nipple having threads [2 for connecting with the boss of a pressure tank or vessel, the nipple having a main axial bore 13 communicating with the vapor chamber V formed in the hollow upper body portion 1 I. A liquid chamber isolates the fill port from the vapor chamber and is formed by means of a recurved wall l4 having an upper portion l5, which wall extends inwardly from one side wall and the top wall of the body. Integrally formed with said wall is a lower wall [6 which completes the definition of the liquid chamber L and which has a threaded bore [1 overlying the main axial bore [3 and arranged to receive a fill tube Hi1 that extends through the main bore.

The recurved wall has a thickened zone 2| which is formed to receive a fill gauge assembly and is provided with an axial bore 23 for receiving liquid level tube 24 and a radial bore 22 communicating with the fill gauge port. The fill gauge valve is mounted in the port and functions in the manner known in the art, a suitable valve being disclosed in the copending application of Theodore A. St. Clair, Serial No. 103,357, filed boss 21 which includes a downwardly slanting top portionZ'la in which is formed the pressure auge port that'communicates with the vapor chamber by means of a small passage 28 formed in the wall. The slanting mounting of the pressure gauge port makes the pressure gauge visible from above and from one side, and removes it from obstructing other valves and devices-mounted on the unit.

The top wall part 25 has formed therein a pressure relief port communicating with the vapor chamber for mounting of the pressure relief valve. A slanting wall part 26 has formed therein the vapor return port communicating with the vapor chamber and arranged for mounting the vapor return valve. The other slanting top part 26a has formed therein the fill port communicating with the liquid chamber L and-arranged to mount the fill valve. The boss 2.! has radially arranged therein the service port which communicates with the vapor chamber V and mounts the service or dispensing valve for the unit.

Reference to Figs. 1 and 2 will show that .all valves are readily accessible from above,- that the relief valve may exhaust gas without interfering with the valves, and that the pressure valve may be read from above or from one side and does not interfere with manipulation of the service -valve. The radial dimensions of the valve body are quite small considering the number of units mounted thereon, and in fact .the overall radial dimensionof the completed valve head, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, arequite compact. The valve body is preferably formed as a malleable casting and the arrangement shown is economical in material and is highly pressure resistant. The liquid level and fill tubes are mounted in ports or bores that are readily machined by tools extending through'the main bore [3, and similarly all the other valve ports are quickly and economically formed by simple boring and threading operations without need for special tools.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the internal details of the various valves and fittings are not critical to the invention, suitable constructions being well known in the art as well as being disclosed in the pending applications of Joseph N. Paquin, Serial No. 2,983, filed April 19, 1948, now abandoned, and Serial No. 17,090, filed March 25, 1948, which has since become U. ,8. Patent No. .2,506,73.7,.granted May'9, 1950,

as well as the aforesaid patent of St. Clair.

Having completed a detailed description of the present invention so that others skilled in the art may be able to understand and practice the same, I state that what I desire to secure by Letters'Patent is defined in what is claimed.

{What is claimed is:

A multiple valve head body for use in the dispensing of gases liquefied under pressure, said body having a lower portion formed for attachment to a tank and an upper portion integral therewith for mounting a valve assemblage, said lower portion having an axial bore for fluid communication with the tank, said upper portion having side walls and atop wall, said upper portion having a vapor chamberformed therein communicating with said axial bore, three valve ports formed in said top wall, a recurved wall extending partially from one side wall and 'f-rom said top wall into said vapor chamber and arranged to isolate one of said valve ports formed in said top wall, thereby forming a liquid chamber, said recurved wall having a bottom section partially overlying the axial bore in said lower body portion and apertured to receive a fill tube for extending through said axial bore, a radial boss extending from a side wall of said'body adjacent said one side wall and having a downwardly slanting top, a pressure gauge port extending into said vapor chamber from said slanting top, and a valve port extending radially into said vapor chamber from the side of said boss.

ANDREW G. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 200,323 McDermott etal. Feb. 12, 1914 1,511,726 Heinze Oct. 14, 1924 

